Julian McGrath-Gerrity
Sonny: It's gonna be your name the rest of your life, what do you want it to be? Julian: Fwankenstein! '' '''Sonny and Julian.' Julian McGrath-Gerrity is the main character in the film Big Daddy. He is the son of Jan McGrath and Kevin Gerrity. He was briefly adopted by Sonny Koufax, with whom he is still close friends with. He is played by Cole and Dylan Sprouse. Life before the film *Julian was born in July 15th 1994. He grew up with his mother Jan McGrath, as his father Kevin Gerrity presumably thought of their encounter as a one-night stand. Little is known about Julian's life with his mother, but it is thought that he was a very happy, normal child. During 1999, Julian's mother was diagnosed with cancer and, sadly, it was terminal. *Fearing her life was at an end, Jan sent her son to live with his biological father, Kevin Gerrity. However, Kevin had already left for a job in China. Julian was sent with his belongings and a last wish from his mother, that he would be going to live with his real father. Big Daddy *Julian arrived at Sonny Koufax's house with a note from his mother addressed to his biological father Kevin Gerrity. Upon realising the truth behind Julian's mother, Sonny called up Kevin and eventually decided he would take Julian to the Social Services Bureau, in which he would live with a foster family. Sonny took Julian to Central Park, in which he demonstrated how he likes to watch the rollerbladers fall down. He then deliberately tripped one over and into the nearby lake. This caused the initially reluctant Julian to share his first bonding moment with Sonny. Julian and Sonny relax at home with the delivery guy, Nazo. Sonny then takes Julian to his local bar to watch the football. Sonny and Julian continue to bond. When he is returned home and in his new bed, Julian ask Sonny if he is his father, to which he replies that he isn't. *The next morning, Sonny takes Julian to the park and decides that he will take full-time care of Julian to impress his girlfriend Vanessa. Julian is shown to become more confident and even adopted traits from Sonny, he trips a rollerblader with a stick. *During the course of the night, Julian wets his bed and informs Sonny. He helps clean up the mess, by placing sheets of newspaper on the bed and attempting to get Julian to go back to sleep. The plan is unsuccessful and the two end up heading out to get a MacDonald's breakfast meal. *Julian reveals that he has to go to the bathroom and, after being denied entry to a bathroom at a restaurant, Sonny shows Julian how to pee up a building, something he is later characterised for doing. *Along the way Julian questions a homeless man, on why he is homeless, showing a light of truth to the man. Sonny then upsets Julian by cursing loudly when he realises he missed the breakfast period. He then calms Julian down by throwing himself in front of a moving vehicle, which is revealed to please Julian. *Julian and Sonny return home, where Sonny plans to watch the hockey game. However his plans are thwarted when Julian, presumably on a sugar rush, bounces up and down on a space hopper, in front of the television set. He tells Sonny that he is too hungry to take a nap, so Sonny fills him full of masses of junk food. He passes out on the kitchen table. Julian then wakes up and informs Sonny that he always watches the Kangaroo Song after his naps. However, his out-of-control dancing causes him to vomit on the floor. Sonny, stressed out by Julian's mannerisms, decides to take him to his girlfriend Vanessa. *Julian reveals that he is worried that Vanessa will not be nice. Sonny gives Julian a pair of 'magic' sunglasses that he convinces him makes him invisible, Julian is convinced and continues on to Vanessa's apartment. It is revealed that Vanessa has dumped Sonny and is dating Sid, an old man. *Sonny decides he has no more options and takes Julian to the Social Services Bureau, in which he plans to give him to foster parents. However Arthur Brooks informs him that Julian would have to stay in an orphanage for a while. Julian runs over to Sonny and shows him that he has learnt how to tie his shoes. Sonny is proud of Julian and decides to take temporary custody over him until a foster family can be found. *Sonny then calls up his father and is reprimanded for taking custody over Julian. He then informs Julian that people's dads are the source of their problems. He then asks Julian if he likes his own name, to which he replies, ' I guess... ', Sonny then gets him to rename himself 'Frankenstein'. *Sonny then decides to let Julian do what he wants and live a life of freedom, the activities he participates in are; *Playing in a puddle *Being taught how to play baseball *Dressing in a random manner *Eating pizza *Learning how to perform the sleeper hold like Chief Jay Strongbow *Getting a slingshot and killing many pigeons and, *Trick-or-treating with Sonny. *Julian then goes out to a hot-dog stand with Sonny and his two, gay best friends, Phil and Tommy. His behaviour seems to have deteriorated rapidly. He is carrying a large stick, with which he hits Phil with. He then orders thirty packets of ketchup, which appears to be his favourite food. *Sonny then uses Julian as a pawn in gaining a date with a pretty girl at the park, unbeknownst to him at the time, but the girl is Layla Maloney, Corrine's sister. Julian runs over to her and claims that he is lost and doesn't know where he lives, at which point Sonny arrives. When Layla declines Sonny's offer for a date, he then calls Julian over, who performs an act saying that, if she didn't come over he would develop a stutter. This is also the first time Julian pees on something for the first time alone. *During Sonny's date, Julian calls him into his bedroom to ask for a goodnight. He attempts to fall asleep, but is unsuccessful and once again interrupts the date by turning the music off. Layla and Sonny return to Julian's bedroom and tell him a story about a rabbit and a squirrel. The story helps Julian fall asleep and eventually becomes a way to transcribe Sonny and Layla's feelings. *The next day, Sonny takes Julian to school. He is scared and says that he doesn't like the other kids. Sonny gives him the magic sunglasses and Julian enters the classroom, where he instantly makes a friend. *During the day, Arthur Brooks calls Sonny's apartment and tells him that he has found a foster family for Julian and that he would like him to call him back. Sonny doesn't. *Sonny hangs out with Julian and his friends at school and informs them to stay away from drugs. *He then takes him to the grocery store, where he teaches Julian to throw can onto the floor, as dented cans are half prices. Julian informs Sonny that he has eczema. Corrine is also shopping and helps Julian with his eczema, by putting a bag of frozen peas on the rash and cooling the itching. *At some point off screen, Sonny took Julian to Cony Island, where they took pictures in a photo booth. .]] *While Sonny takes Layla on a date to a restaurant in Little Italy, Julian stays at home with Sonny's friends, Mike, Phil and Tommy. Julian plays cards with Phil, as a new game called 'I win', in which no matter what hand Julian has he always wins everything. Arthur Brooks arrives, informing them that he has tried to get in contact with Kevin Gerrity(Actually Sonny posing as Kevin)and has been unsuccessful. *Sonny is called by Julian's teacher Ms. Foote. She request as special meeting with him, as she is concerned about several issues regarding Julian. It is said that he tripped a student who wore roller blades, he spilt a tube of glue on the floor and covered it in newspaper, as opposed to telling someone. Julian is then shown to be urinating on a potted plant in the classroom. Ms. Foote then informs Sonny that Julian is ' by far the smelliest ' child she has ever taught. Sonny then decides to change Julian's life around. *Sonny tries to convince Julian to study by reading a book about George Washington with Nazo, however it proves unsuccessful when Julian insults Nazo and begins dancing around to the Kangaroo song. Sonny returns dressed as Scuba Sam, Scuba Steve's father. He convinces Julian that he must study hard if he wants to be in the Scuba Squad. *Julian gets a bath as Sonny tells him that they will be changing his life. He studies harder, dresses differently and eats right. *Sonny guides Julian's life through several different activities: *He takes him to Barneys and the two dress identically in white suits. *Sonny takes Julian to work at the tollbooth. *Julian discovers that urinals are good too. *Sonny and Julian dress up as the founding fathers, investigating Benjamin Franklin's discovery of electricity. *Sonny puts milk into a hand wash bottle and together the pair have fun pumping it onto cereal. *Sonny then devises a spelling test for Julian, in which all the words are related to Benjamin Franklin. Julian correctly identifies all the words. *They head out to Central Park, where they make amends for their previous mistakes, by holding signs telling the rollerbladers to slow down at the bend where Sonny had previously tripped them up. They once again encounter the homeless man, riding in a trolley cart filled with plastic bags. *Sonny and Layla watch Julian's school play. Julian shines through as the star of the play, remembering all his lines and delivering them with humour. Julian stands put, while the other child rush to sign the declaration of independence. *Julian is next seen playing 'I win' with Nazo and Sonny. Arthur Brooks arrives to take Julian away, having discovered Sonny is not Kevin Gerrity. He is taken away into Social Services' care. *During the trial Julian is called upon as witness. Layla interviews him and, although he is hesitant at first Layla gives him the 'magic' sunglasses and he answers her questions. He tells the court of all the things Sonny taught him and that he thinks his Mom would have picked Sonny to be his new Dad. Julian steps down and returns to the waiting room. The judge then decides that custody should be given to his real father, Kevin Gerrity. Julian protests but Sonny assures him everything will be okay. Sonny then promises Julian that they will always be friends. *Nazo is seen giving Julian advice not to order BLT when he comes to his restaurant. Sonny says he will see Julian for breakfast the next morning. Kevin attempts to bond with Julian by telling him about China, he then bangs his head on the bench and Julian laughs with him. *He is last seen playing with noise makers with his father. 1 year, 6 months and 3 days later *Julian is at Sonny's surprise birthday party. He reveals that they have been playing basketball together on a regular basis. Julian is revealed to now be calling Corrine 'Mommy'. *Sonny picks Julian up and carries him over to Vanessa, who is revealed to know be a Hooters girl, along with Sid working the grill. *Julian receives his final piece of advice in the film from Sonny, telling him to say testicles instead of balls. Relationships Sonny Koufax : *Julian arrives at Sonny's, initially to find his real father, who has already left for China. Julian instantly grows to look up to Sonny as a surrogate father figure, with Sonny giving him valuable advice. When Julian's life becomes out of control, it is Sonny who turns it around. *Even once custody of Julian has been handed over to his real father, Kevin, Julian is still shown to be very attached to Sonny. Kevin Gerrity : *Although Kevin only interacts with his son in the last few scenes, he is shown to bond with him similarly quick as Sonny did. Julian and Kevin are seen playing with noise makers from China. *In last scene, however, Julian does not interact with his father, possibly as he is still closer to Sonny. Nazo : *Julian first meets Nazo after his trip out to Central Park with Sonny. They are all shown to be eating from Cosys, the restaurant in which Nazo is the courier for, Julian tells Nazo that he ' wipes his own ass '. Nazo, smiling replies by saying ' me too '. When Sonny is questioning Julian about his doll Scuba Steve, Nazo tells them that he had a similar doll, but his cat bit the head off. Nazo reacts badly when Julian asks him ' what kind of cat would do that? '. *Julian then attempts to perform the sleeper hold on a willing Nazo, but is unsuccessful in grasping the technique. *When Sonny shuts off Julian's video games and they take a vote to see whether on not Julian should study. Both Sonny and Nazo vote that he should, however Julian discounts Nazo's vote by using the fact that he can't read. Julian then hits Nazo on the head, whilst dancing to the Kangaroo Song. *Both Julian and Nazo take a spelling bee hosted by Sonny. Where Julian is able to answer all the words correctly, Nazo gets his last one wrong and exclaims that Julian had the easy words. *Julian, Sonny and Nazo play 'I win' together but Nazo is unhappy with the rule that Julian always wins. He says that he must ' learn to lose as well '. *Nazo defends Julian and Sonny at the court case, despite how futile his attempts are. *At the end of the film, Nazo is shown giving Julian advice not to order BLT at Cosys. *Nazo is one of the only characters in the films to be mean to Julian. Corrine: *Julian first meets Corrine when he arrives at Sonny's apartment, shortly after her fiancé Kevin's departure. She asks what his name is, to which Julian doesn't reply. *The two next meet again, when Corrine discovers Julian's name is Frankenstein. He tells her that he had eczema, so she puts a bag of peas on the rash to cool the itching. Julian is very grateful to Corrine. Corrine tousles his hair as she says goodbye. *Corrine is one of the many witnesses at Sonny's trial. She defends him as a loving father to Julian, although it is possible her testimony comes from her care for Julian. *At the end of the film, Julian calls Corrine 'Mommy', indicating that she is now his surrogate mother. They seem to have a good relationship and Corrine even treats Julian like her own child. Layla : *Julian first meets Layla when he runs over to her in the park, in an attempt to get a date with her for Sonny. She is caring towards him, believing the story that he is lost and attempts to find his parents. She falls for his cute stutter act and goes on a date with Sonny. *Layla then helps Julian get back to sleep by telling a story for him with Sonny. *At Julian's school play, Layla is in the audience, commenting on how cute Julian looks. *Layla helps with Julian's case as a co-counsellor, although it is widely suggested she was there for Sonny, she could still have been there for Julian. Trivia *Cole Sprouse features on the movie poster, whereas his brother Dylan has more screen time in the film. *Julian's Scuba Steve doll almost disappears completely after he alters his life to a better kind. Category:Characters